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Feeling as small as a Grasshopper

Sometimes, as a small business owner, I feel small and weak. Especially when I see others with great websites, awesome “platforms” (i really dislike this word), and great successes. I feel like I’m the tortoise in the story of the tortoise and the hare, only I am not sure I am even in the same race.

I get up every day and feel the challenges of a small yet thriving business. I am reminded of an account of a group of leaders who were promised a piece of land that was rich in soil and flowing with fruit. This land was theirs for the taking. But they HAD to take it. They were gathered together and told to survey this land and report back with they had seen. Now, I need to remind you that these men were leaders in their tribes. Yet, when they returned from their trip of seeing the land, they reported that the people there were stronger and bigger. And they also reported that they saw themselves as grasshoppers among the people of this land. Why didn’t they see themselves as equal? Why didn’t they see themselves as their tribe saw them? Their tribe saw them as men who could take the land, strong leaders with authority to conquer what was theirs. But they had no faith in themselves when they saw other leaders. They compared themselves and felt small, like tiny grasshoppers. Maybe they should not have compared themselves to the natives of the land.

I think comparison has two sides. On one hand it can help you see what and where you wish to be in life, business or as a parent. On the other hand you can compare and destroy what you have accomplished by diminishing your worth. All of a sudden what you worked hard to accomplish doesn’t seem like an accomplishment at all when compared to others. Your hard work all of a sudden seems like a drop in the bucket. Don’t compare. Be the best you can be and don’t look back or beside you.